To Watch the Sunset
by sashsweetie
Summary: Just a little ArcherT'Pol friendship story...Doesn't take place at any particular time in the series. finished


"I've never seen _anything_ so beautiful!" Jonathan Archer spoke wonderingly as he watched the planet's two moons rise in tandem into the sky. T'Pol gently arched an eyebrow at his mystified tone and looked down through the twilight to where their campfire could be seen winking brightly in the distance at the base of the hill.

The Captain turned to face her. "You can't possibly tell me that wasn't an amazing sunset T'Pol."

"I was not going to." Archer grinned at her.

"See, wasn't it worth coming up here?"

T'Pol observed him placidly. "It is very pleasant; your insistence was justified." The planet was filled with blowing grasses and tiny flowers. T'Pol had requested an away team spend time on the planet to study it's interesting weather pattern. The torrential downpours which occurred once every day kept the planet from being one giant desert...And so here they were.

The Captain lay back into the tall grass, folding his arms behind his head and sighing contentedly, closed his eyes. T'Pol watched him silently. This side of Jonathan Archer was one she rarely got to see - always on Enterprise he was in command mode, playing the part of the strong, brave leader. Only when he was relaxed or vulnerable was she able to see this part of him.

"If you could live anywhere, where would it be?" The Captain's random question jerked T'Pol out of her thoughts.

She answered almost immediately. "There was a planet I visited once...It was called Athanza Prime...If I could live anywhere, it would be there."

"Not Vulcan?"

"No. Not Vulcan." The conviction in her voice surprised Archer and he opened his eyes, looking up at the stars silently. They each sunk back into their respective ponderings. "And for you?" T'Pol queried a couple of minutes later.

"Where would I live?" T'Pol nodded. "I don't really know. Somewhere quiet and without huge numbers of people." He rolled onto his side and propped himself up with his hand cupping his chin and looked up at her. "Tell me about Athanza Prime."

T'Pol surprised him by lying back in the grass beside him and folding her hands neatly over her stomach. "It is very small; not much larger than Earth's moon, and not very highly populated. The people there live simply, residing in small villages rather than cities and making their living by selling produce that grows naturally on the surface - not a modern occupation, but a substantial one. It is quite warm, and people spend much of their time on the ocean which occupies approximately one-third of the planet. I very much enjoyed the weeks I spent there."

The Captain smiled. "It sounds wonderful." They went back to a comfortable silence.

"Captain?"

"Yes, T'Pol?"

"Would you object to my completing my evening meditation now? It will be easier for me with only one human present."

"Go ahead." Archer rolled onto his back again and closed his eyes.

T'Pol sat up in the grass and readied herself for meditation, attuning herself with the environment. She cleared her mind, letting the gentle sensations around her fill her and replace her thoughts. The slight breeze that rustled through the grasses, releasing their sweet fragrance, Captain Archers breathing slowing and forming a steady pattern as he drifted away to sleep, the rushing of the stream that ran through grasses a short distance away, the feel of the ground beneath her...Emotions drifted up and she considered them calmly before allowing them to fade away, one by one. As she finished, she allowed her mind to go blank again before letting her thoughts to return. Then she opened her eyes again, refreshed. She was surprised that Captain Archers presence had not disturbed her. When she had meditated once with Commander Tucker present, she had found it almost impossible to clear her mind as his emotions had bombarded her and interrupted the process.

Looking down at the Captain, she found him asleep, one arm resting lightly on his chest and the other sprawling across the grass to his side as he breathed deeply through his slightly open mouth. His short hair had somehow managed to remove itself from its normally tidy position, and T'Pol found herself quelling the urge to brush it back into place. She turned and looked up at the stars, deciding to allow him to sleep a while longer before waking him to return to the other members of the away team.

"Captain Archer" T'Pol softly called some time later. The Captain made no response. T'Pol tried again more loudly. "Captain!" Archer wrinkled his nose, apparently disinclined to wake up. T'Pol reached out and tentatively brushed her fingers against his cheek. "Captain Archer, you must wake up."

Slowly he groaned and opened his eyes, blinking confusedly. "T'Pol?"

"It is time we returned to Ensigns Mayweather and Sato. They will be wondering about our location." The Captain yawned and hauled himself into a sitting position.

"Alright then." They turned on a flashlight and proceeded back to the camp, T'Pol much more gracefully than the Captain who continually stumbled in his sleepiness. Upon their arrival they found the two Ensigns in the process of creating s'mores over the glowing embers of the fire.

"Hi guys!" Hoshi smiled as they sat down. "Nice sunset?"

Archer nodded enthusiastically. "Amazing! You should have come."

"S'Mores?" Travis offered the bags of various ingredients in their general direction and Captain Archer accepted them happily.

"I haven't made s'mores since my last camping trip on Earth." he reminisced, spearing a couple of marshmallows with a proffered stick and holding them over the embers to brown.

An hour or so later they were all climbing into their sleeping bags beside the fire. Tents had been decided against as the night was warm and the rains not due for another twelve hours. Within minutes of their lying down, an irritating sound began from the end sleeping bag. Ensign Mayweather was snoring.


End file.
